Despite a valiant late-season push, the Loyalist Lancers weren’t able to improve their playoff lot on the final day of the Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association senior girls volleyball season.

The Lancers went into the day 7-4, part of a tie for fifth place with the Frontenac Falcons. Loyalist upset the third-place Holy Cross Crusaders in straight sets Thursday, but Frontenac was also victorious, with a 3-2 home-court victory over the Ernestown Eagles.

The Eagles’ performance was another courageous effort, as Ernestown, 4-7, needed a victory to catch the idle Marie-Rivier Dragons for eighth place and the final playoff spot. The Eagles had won their previous two matches to put themselves in position to challenge for that spot.

Loyalist began the season with just one win from its first four matches, but the Lancers won six of their last seven, including their last four in a row. The last two wins, both this week, came against the Kingston Blues, who were 8-2 at the time, and Holy Cross, which was 9-2 going into Thursday’s match at LC.

In other senior girls matches Thursday, the Sydenham Golden Eagles completed a 10-1 season with a 3-0 win over winless Mille-Iles; the Regiopolis Notre Dame Panthers clinched first place with a 3-2 win over the Bayridge Blazers; KC defeated the Granite Ridge Gryphons 3-0, and the La Salle Black Knights won in straight sets over the Napanee Golden Hawks 3-0.

Against a Blazers team that finished 6-6, Regi did not have an easy time of its match at Bayridge, dropping the first and fourth sets of a match the Panthers eventually won 22-25, 25-15, 25-19, 18-25, 15-5.

The story of the night for the Panthers was passing, coach Pat Farrell wrote, in an email. “When (we) were able to pass we dominated Bayridge,” he wrote. “Middle Teigen Rook was able to collect 12 kills, all the result of well executed passing.”

Left side Emma McLean played a strong game, with 10 kills and 21 service points for Regi, which, despite finishing in a tie atop the standings with Sydenham at 10-1, was awarded first place by virtue of its 3-1 win over Sydenham on Jan. 19.

That was a fateful day on the senior girls calendar, since the Crusaders’ 3-2 win over KC that afternoon gave Holy Cross third place, though both teams finished the regular year 9-3.

In Tuesday’s quarter-finals, Marie-Rivier, 5-7, will play at Regi; Bayridge will visit Sydenham; Holy Cross will entertain Loyalist and Frontenac will play at KC.